Bournemouth vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,465.
Match report and free highlights as West Ham beat Bournemouth 4-0 to move six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone; Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice score first-half goals before Pablo Fornals adds late fourth; Bournemouth stay five points above the drop zone
Tuesday 25 April 2023 06:54, UK
West Ham moved six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with an emphatic 4-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
After reaching another European semi-final in impressive style on Thursday, West Ham's focus quickly switched back to their battle to beat the drop and they made the perfect start on the south coast with two goals inside 12 minutes.
Michail Antonio rose unmarked to head in Aaron Cresswell's corner (5) before Lucas Paqueta doubled the Hammers' advantage with a header of his own at the back post seven minutes later.
West Ham captain Declan Rice, fresh from scoring his side's third goal against Gent in midweek, then thumped the visitors into a 3-0 lead two minutes before the break. Substitute Pablo Fornals' acrobatic effort then added a late fourth for the Hammers (72).
Bournemouth, who had won four of their previous six league games, responded well to conceding two early goals but Rice's strike effectively ended their hopes of a comeback.
The result sees West Ham leapfrog Bournemouth and rise to 13th in the table with seven matches remaining. The Cherries drop to 15th and are five points above the bottom three with six games to play.
Despite their Thursday exploits, West Ham manager David Moyes only made two changes at the Vitality Stadium and one was to recall first-choice Lukasz Fabianski in goal.
It meant Antonio got another opportunity to lead the line and he rewarded his manager's faith with a fifth-minute opener. For Bournemouth, it was all too easy with Cresswell's near-post corner powered home by the unmarked forward for his 12th goal of the season in all competitions.
The Hammers doubled their advantage seven minutes later and again it would have frustrated Cherries boss Gary O'Neil. Vladimir Coufal won back possession and controlled Jarrod Bowen's pass before his looping cross was headed in at the back post by Paqueta, who easily outjumped Jack Stephens.
Bournemouth were not prepared to throw the towel in just yet and Chris Mepham tested Fabianski with a header moments later. Jefferson Lerma was next to try his luck and Fabianski was again equal to it, but his best stop was to come next.
Dominic Solanke muscled his way past Nayef Aguerd and raced into the area, but Fabianski saved well with his feet to preserve West Ham's two-goal lead after half an hour.
Having withstood Bournemouth's fightback, Moyes' side then went further in front two minutes before half-time through their talisman. Another Cresswell corner caused problems and, while it was cleared to the back post, Rice was first to the loose ball and on hand to drill home to make it back-to-back goals this week.
The Hammers captain was serenaded by the away fans soon after with chants urging him to stay amid talk his future could lie away from the London Stadium after this campaign.
O'Neil responded with Wales forward Kieffer Moore introduced in place of Joe Rothwell at half-time but it failed to have the desired effect.
A triple substitution followed on the hour mark for Bournemouth with Dango Ouattara, the stoppage-time hero at Spurs last weekend, brought on and, while he initially caused problems, West Ham were soon celebrating a fourth goal.
Bowen did well down the right and, although his cross was slightly behind Fornals, the substitute managed to backheel the ball into the far corner to make it 4-0 on 72 minutes.
Hammers substitute Maxwel Cornet had a stoppage-time effort ruled out for offside and the West Ham fans finished the game chanting for Rice to stay one more year, with this win at least going a long way to confirming their place in the Premier League next season.
As for Bournemouth, they now have the leakiest defence in the Premier League this season with 63 goals conceded - one more than Leeds - and will need to quickly regroup for their trip to rivals Southampton on Thursday.
West Ham manager David Moyes said: "There were so many good things about the performance. Obviously, the goals were a good thing. We scored four in midweek and we've done it again, so great credit to the players for the week we've had. Drawing against Arsenal, beating Gent and now winning at Bournemouth, I have to give them great credit for it.
"We're trying to build some momentum and it's happening at a good time for us. Since the World Cup, we've picked up a bit and looked a bit better. Some of the boys we've brought in are settling in. We're also scoring a few more goals, which is what we struggled with earlier in the season."
On Paqueta's performance, Moyes added: "He's either beginning to get used to us or it could be us getting used to him - a little bit of both perhaps. But his goal was really good and showed us he's got another attribute - that he can jump and head them in as well when needed. Overall, his performance was very good."
Bournemouth head coach Gary O'Neil said: "We didn't defend our goal well enough and we didn't stand up to West Ham's strengths. We knew they would try to test us physically, with direct play and balls in the box. It's one of their big strengths and we couldn't match it.
"West Ham are a threat from set-pieces and we didn't cope with it well enough. It's disappointing because we knew what they could do, and when you don't defend your goal well enough or your box well enough then the direction of the game goes in West Ham's favour. The start from us meant the game was going to be very tough to wrestle back from that moment.
"The lads will bounce back, there's no doubt about that. We'll get ready to go to Southampton and we'll get ready to put in a performance."
Bournemouth visit Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday at 7.45pm. West Ham host Liverpool at the London Stadium the night before, also at 7.45pm.
April 27: Southampton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 30: Leeds (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm
May 6: Chelsea (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Crystal Palace (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Manchester United (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Everton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
April 26: Liverpool (H) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 29: Crystal Palace (A) - Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
May 3: Man City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 7: Man Utd (H) - Premier League, kick-off 7pm
May 11: AZ Alkmaar (H) - Europa Conference League semi-final, kick-off 8pm
May 14: Brentford (A) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm
May 18: AZ Alkmaar (A) - Europa Conference League semi-final, kick-off 8pm
May 21: Leeds (H) - Premier League, kick-off 1.30pm
May 28: Leicester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
